Saab Cars USA still considering Connecticut HQ

I wrote earlier about Saab Cars USA…. how they began operations this week and how they’re looking for a place to live. The probable front-runner is a property in a spot called Royal Oak, which is apparently around 15 miles north of Detroit. There’s another article in the local Oakland newspaper today, about the space, and about Saab.

The city scheduled an Oct. 19 public hearing for Saab’s request for a tax abatement on the full value of its personal property, which would be worth about $897,000, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. A subsidiary of General Motors, Saab is poised to break away from its parent company and become an independent business entity on Jan. 1, 2010. Saab and about 50 employees no longer will need to be based at GM’s headquarters at the Renaissance Center, Detroit.

That’s all well and good, but I know from comments that a lot of people were advocating a move back east, closer to Saab’s core US market. It seems that’s still a possibility…..

Saab is looking for its next U.S. headquarters. It plans to invest a total of $2.2 million into the Royal Oak building if it is selected. One or two sites in Connecticut also are under consideration.

That said, I’m not sure it’ll happen that way right at this point. Saab will still be tied to GM in many ways. Their employees will be settled in Michigan and it’ll be hard to uproot 50 people and move them away in one big group. I’m just pleased they’re getting out of central Detroit. No offence meant to the people who live there, but it’s got to be worth about 10% in improved productivity just to get out of eye’s reach of the central business district. Here’s a before shot of the building they’re looking at in Royal Oak….. And an after shot. The current owners are building contractors and they renovated the place for their own use. Nice job.

Saab Car Museum

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